In Witchwood!
"It's
Marion Simpson, her that's wife to
Richie Smail, the herd o' the Greenshiel.
Marion, puir body, has been ill wi' a wastin' the past twalmonth, and now it seems she's near her release" (
Isobel, the minister's housekeeper) .
***
"It's himsel'," she cried. "
Richie, it's the minister. Wae's me, sir, but ye're ower late to speed puir Mirren.
An hour syne she gaed to her reward--just slipped awa' in a fit o' hoastin'. I've strauchten'd the corp and am gettin' the deid claes ready--Mirren was aye prood o' hers, and keepit them fine and caller wi' gall and rosmry.
Come forrit, sir, and tak' a look on her that's gane. There was nae deid-thraws wi' Mirren, and she's lyin' as peacefu' as a bairn. Her face is sair faun in, but I mind when it was the bonniest face in a' Rood water" (The wife of a local shepherd).